Since I had to hang around the house all day on Friday waiting for someone,  I challenged myself to make a complete painting in one day. I stretched and primed some canvases on Thursday night and hit the ground running at about 6.30 in the morning. I'm a notoriously slow painter. Most works take weeks, even months so it was a ridiculous challenge. By mid-afternoon when the guy finished checking out the attic, I realized I might actually be able to complete, not one but two paintings in a day. Right around 11pm these two were deemed finished.

Though I like to draw, the idea of sketching has never really been part of my practice. Typically I consider my works on paper to be finished pieces. Sometimes I do quick "sketches" to work out specific problems for a painting but I don't simply sketch stuff without a specific reason.

These works on paper launch a new series and are potential studies for future paintings, but right now I think of them as stand-alone pieces. I am enjoying the directness of the mark making. I think of myself as a painterly painter, and these drawings build up colors and surfaces in a similar manner as my paintings, only the marks are more obvious here. I suspect some of this technique will work its way into my new paintings.